Scouting, Volume 2, Number 7, August 1, 1914 Page: 1
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Published semi-monthly by National Headquarters, Boy Scouts of America
For Scout Officials and Others Interested In Work for Boys
Vol. II.
NEW YORK, N. Y., AUGUST i, 1914.
No. 7.
POLISH BOYS UNITE WITH
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA.
Chief Scout Executive Completes Ar=
rangements for Substantial Exten=
sion of the Movement.
A GREAT step forward in the develop-
ment of Scouting was made on July
8 when the Chief Scout Executive con-
ferred in Chicago with a committee of
seven men from the Polish National Coun-
cil of America for the purpose of en-
rolling their boys as members of the Boy
Scouts of America.
The Polish people in America have been
quick to-rrealize the benefits which their boys
would receive from following out the Scout
program. Long before the conference was
held they had introduced the work among a
great many boys who have been following
out the Scout Oath and Law, together with
the activities of Scouting.
It was realized, - however, that the best
results to the Polish boys <would follow
their definite affiliation with the Boy
Scouts of America, because such affilia-
tion would enable them to benefit by the
experience, organization and standards of
the organization and to participate, to the
fullest extent, in all its features, including
the right to use its publications and badges.
The leaders of the Polish Council realized,
also, that harmonious association with boys
of other training and descent would be
advantageous.
As a result of the conference it has been
agreed that there shall be an affiliation of
the Polish Scouts with the Boy Scouts of
America. The Polish Scouts will select one
of their members to serve as a Special
Field Scout Commissioner for work among
the Polish Scouts under the Boy Scouts
of America and two members to serve
on the National Council of the Boy Scouts
of America.
It was agreed that the Polish Scouts
would accept the Boy Scout program in its
entirety, as presented in the official hand-
book, that all Scout leaders and boys would
be registered with the National Headquar-
ters through local councils in accordance
with the membership and registration plan
and that the Polish boys would be required
to pass all Scout tests in the same manner
as other , Scouts.
It was also agreed that both the English
Polish languages should be used in
giving instruction s in Scouting, but that all
Scouts should be able to take their tests in
the English language.
It was' further agreed that the handbook
for boys would be made available by the
National Headquarters in the Polish lan-
guage when desired.
It was reported that there are 9,000
Polish Scouts who will immediately take
(Continued on page 2, column 3.)
BOY SCOUTS BRING QUICK RELIEF
TO FIRE-STRICKEN CITY OF SALEM.
Lads Appear as if By Magic, Organize Their Work Promptly and
Render Invaluable Service in a Hundred
Different Ways.
ONE of the most striking features of the
relief work after the great fire at Sa-
lem, Mass., which recently destroyed
a third of the city, was the promptness with
which the Boy Scouts reached the scene
of the disaster and the remarkable effi-
ciency they showed by organizing their
part in the general relief plan.
" Everywhere we saw the Boy Scouts."
That is the unanimous testimony of news-
paper reporters, Red Cross workers, ref-
ugees and visitors. The boys were work-
ing, too—working all day, without stop-
ping, and looking out for themselves as
well. Hardy, self-reliant and self-forget-
ful, the Scouts served dinners, connected
separated families, put foreigners on the
right trains to other cities, and even man-
aged traffic in place of the policemen whose
services were needed elsewhere.
COLLECT FUNDS AND SUPPLIES.
There were so many concrete instances
to show what the boys did that it seems
hardly fair to single out a few for men-
tion. Charles W. Schaller, formerly act-
ing Scout Commissioner for the district,
secured a big auto truck the day after the
fire and went the rounds of the neighbor-
ing villages collecting all the Scouts who
could go with him. Many of the boys did
not go home again for weeks. From Mai-
den, Revere, Beverly, Winthrop, Lynn,
Hamilton, Medford, Manchester and Bos-
ton they came. Those who could not leave
home kept busy collecting money and
clothing and shipping them down to the
Scouts on the field. In North Chelms-
ford—and neighboring towns duplicated
this—the Scouts raised over $100, giving
up some of their Fourth of July good
times in order to canvass for funds. The
North Chelmsford Scouts started the con-
tribution list in that city with $10 from
their fund for a clubhouse. In Cambridge
the committee for which the Scouts can-
vassed raised over $3,500. Four Scouts in
one Troop at Watertown collected 100
cubic feet of clothing and bedding, loaded
it onto a huge auto truck which they bor-
rowed for that purpose and carted it all
down to Salem. Troop 2 of Waverly also
cbllected clothing and took it to Salem
themselves. Scouts from Auburndale went
down with contributions and provisions
and stayed on the ground to help.
Up to the time of going to press, news-
paper clippings were coming in literally by
the hundreds and it seemed as though
everyone told of the services of a different
Troop.
AN ACCOUNT BY AN EYE-WITNESS.
One of the Boston Scout officials made a
special trip to Salem to obtain informa-
tion about the work of the Scouts. His
account of the situation, received on July
14, is particularly interesting, since he, as
an eye-witness, is able to describe most
graphically the conditions in the stricken
city. His letter follows :
" Fourteen days have come and gone
since the terrible fire paralyzed the quaint
old Massachusetts city of Salem, burning
over one-third of the city's homes and
practically all of the factories upon which
a great portion of the homeless citizens
depended for their very bread and butter.
" Whereas two short weeks ago some
10,000 people—rich and poor alike—were
blessed with homes and the wherewithal
to gain their livelihood, now most of that
number are without the means of sus-
tenance. Where but fourteen days ago
there stood a prosperous municipality there
now remains but a blackened shell—the
very picture of desolation.
" During all of this time from fifty to
one hundred members of the Boy Scouts
of America have been on constant duty
helping in the innumerable tasks which in-
evitably follow such a catastrophe as this.
HOW 6,000 REFUGEES WERE FED.
" It was noontime when the writer
dropped in on some forty Scouts and
Scout officials as they were eating their
dinner in the Salem Fraternity House. The
proof of the zeal with which these little
men in khaki had worked during the morn-
ing hours was unmistakably evident in the
gusto with which they annihilated pot-
roast and crackers, fresh milk, bread and
butter and lemon pie which were set on
the tables before them. It is interesting
to note that the room in which the bovs
were eating is the very one in which they
fed over 6,000 refugees in the days im-
mediately following the conflagration, at a
total expense of $1.09! This feat was
made possible by the generous donations
made by the friends of the movement and
of the stricken city. In fact, more food
was offered than it was possible to make
use of—one day, for instance, it was neces-
sary to decline offers of seventy-five cans
of milk.
" In this same building—turned over in
its entirety to the Scouts by the Salem Fra-
ternity (the city's boys' club)—the boys
spend comparatively few leisure moments
during the day with reading or playing
games, The evenings, during which the
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 2, Number 7, August 1, 1914, periodical, August 1, 1914; New York, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth282690/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.